Do not go gentle into that good night
by Akoth
Summary: Severus Snape refuses to die in a dilapidated house surrounded by gawking teenagers. Using his Slytherin cunning he sends Hermione Granger back in time in the hopes her bleeding heart will change the course of the war and save him from this undignified death. Things do not go as planned and Hermione ends up being born as Hermione Snape, twin to Severus Snape.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Belongs to J.K Rowling.**

 **Plot bunnies attacked. Best excuse I could come up with about a story involving a de-aged, time travelling, powerful Hermione. WAIT! Before you hit the back button just read the first two chapters.**

 ** _Rage, rage against the dying of the light._**

 ** _Dylan Thomas_**

He had often pondered how he would meet his end, life as a spy wasn't known for having a very long life expectancy. He would lay awake most nights after a dreadful day doing a job he absolutely abhorred and think of the many ways he would eventually meet his demise. He was nothing if not a realist. A curse being thrown to his back by a member of the Order had been one way he imagined his death. A potion accident by one of the many idiots he was forced to teach was another. For a while he really did think he would die that way, especially with Longbottom in his class. But the one he knew was more likely to happen was a lengthy torture session by the dark lord or one of his cronies before being Avadad.

Severus Snape would have preferred that to what was currently happening. Back against a wall, his legs sprawled out, venom coursing through his veins and bleeding to death while two teenagers gawked at him, while the third spouted reassurances about how he was going to be okay while she searched for something in her bag. He had never felt more humiliated than at that moment. Managing to extract the memories Potter needed to defeat the Dark Lord, he completed his last orders from Dumbledore.

Looking into those familiar pair of green eyes that had once belonged to his first true friend and the only person he had ever loved he thought he would have been okay with his fate. He waited for the peace to come that signalled his acceptance of his death but instead he felt rage. Even though those eyes belonged to the woman he had once loved, the face staring back at him belonged to the teenager that had tormented him his entire school life and taken what was most important to him.

Pushing away the teen he tried to calm his mind trying not to waste his last moments thinking of James Potter. Coughing out blood, he could feel the effects of Naginis venom slowly destroying his body.

"Hang on Professor, it's going to be okay. Harry, Ron go get Madame Pomfrey." Hermione frantically said not looking at the boys as her wand moved quickly over his wound. The bottle of dittany lying empty at her feet. She knew it was a lost cause but Hermione tried still hoping that she could stop the bleeding at least and hopefully Madame Pomfrey would know how to take care of the venom. But by the looks of the blood now covering Professor Snape's robes and her hands he would bleed to death before the venom killed him. Hearing the retreating footfalls of her friends she doubled her efforts in stopping the bleeding.

Merlin how he wished she would just leave with her friends so he could die in peace, grabbing Miss Granger's arm to stop her incessant spell casting that was doing nothing but irritating him. Didn't she know that it was a cursed wound and wouldn't heal. "Please Professor let me help you," she said pleading for him to let her continue.

Looking at her face etched in worry and compassion Severus couldn't help but smirk as an idea came to his mind. For the longest time after Lily's death he had spent countless hours pouring over tomes in an effort to find a way to go back and save her, of course he had never found a feasible way to accomplish it but he had come across a powerful form of magic called death magic in his family's grimoire. The spell couldn't be used on the caster himself who had to be at the point of death while casting the spell. So he couldn't save himself at the moment but he knew she could. From what he had read it was supposed to be extremely powerful magic, what did he have to lose? If it worked he might get a second chance if it didn't...well he was dying anyway.

He knew he couldn't go back to save Lily or himself but Miss. Granger could. With her bleeding heart, penchant for taking up lost causes and rooting for the underdog he could send her back to save himself and Lily and if he knew Miss. Granger also stop the Dark Lord. "Save me," he stated firmly and locked eyes with her he begun to chant, holding on tightly to her arms to keep her from pulling away he chanted faster.

Hermione heard his plea for her to save him and she quickly agreed knowing she would do anything in her power to help him. Hoping that the boys were on their way back with help she tried extracting her arm from his tight grip wanting to try a few more spells to stop the bleeding. Watching his mouth move silently Hermione leaned in hoping to hear what he was trying to say, not being able to make out the foreign phrases she felt his grip on her arm tightening as his chanting became louder.

Feeling the magic surrounding them Hermione begun to panic, her own magic was crackling around her. The fine hairs on her body were standing on ends, her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt like she was suffocating from the amount of magic that was surrounding them. A brilliant white light surrounded them before Hermione Granger vanished from the shrieking shack leaving behind the dead body of Severus Snape.

 ** _9 January 1960_**

Eileen Snape (née Prince) huffed out a breath attempting to get the long stray dark hair that was annoyingly stuck to her sweaty face to move. She could have easily used her hands to swipe the irritating lock behind her ear but her hands were occupied tightly clutching the sheets underneath her as another contraction took hold. How she wished she could have gone to St Mungo's when her waters broke but she knew Tobias would never have agreed to it and here she was now surrounded by muggles and their backwards medicine trying to give birth.

Clenching her jaws tightly she grunted as she bore down trying to push her baby out. Tears streaked down her cheek as she wished her husband was here beside her to offer some comfort, support or at least try and explain what the midwife was talking about. Pushing away the gas and air, not understanding what possible good it could do for her she let out a scream at the burning sensation emanating from her vagina.

Following the instructions of the midwife she breathed in and out rapidly fighting the urge to bear down once again. Once she received the all clear to proceed she continued to push hoping and praying that it would end soon. Having been in labour for more than 16 hours she was exhausted and running on fumes. Feeling the sudden relief as her baby was finally delivered she flopped back on the bed trying to catch her breath. Hearing the cry from her child she excitedly looked at the midwife who was busy cleaning him or her off. She couldn't wait to see what she had been carrying for the last nine months. Holding out her arms expectantly for her child she felt another contraction hit her, she grunted at the sudden pain.

When the midwife told her she was delivering another child she wept. She couldn't do it again, she had nothing left to go through another forty minutes of pushing. Following the midwife's instructions she bore down again. Fifteen minutes later another child's cry filled the room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As the winter sun rose casting a soft warm light on the recovery room of Eileen Snape and her new family the new mother placed a kiss atop the heads of her children and she couldn't help but marvel at how much she had come to love them in a just few short hours. Gazing lovingly at her sleeping husband who was slouched in an armchair at the foot of her hospital bed she couldn't help but feel giddy. For the first time in months he had seemed genuinely happy and had kissed her lovingly, praised her and thanked her for the gifts she had given him.

Glancing down at the two children in her arms she couldn't help but think that maybe this was all their ailing relationship had needed to recover. Hopefully he would go back to the man she fell in love with. "I love you Severus Tobias Snape," she whispered as she nuzzled the sleeping baby. "and I love you Hermione Eileen Snape," she cooed at the girl cradled in her other arm looking lovingly into her brown orbs.

As Hermione looked at the woman who was proclaiming her love to her and apparent brother who happened to share her potions professor's name she thought back to her last memory of being in the shack with Snape and one word came to mind, 'bollocks' before she began to cry, waking up her sleeping twin who followed her lead.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOoOoOOoOo

 ** _20th March 1965_**

The sound of breaking plates could be heard before hastened footsteps accompanied the sound. Rushing up the stairs while grasping her brothers hand Hermione tripped hissing out in pain as her knee connected with the stairs. Not bothering to check the damage she continued on her hasty retreat to their shared bedroom. Hearing the raised voice of Tobias Snape as he berated his wife she quickly shut the door behind her trying to block out the sounds coming from downstairs.

Turning to look at her brothers frightened face, Hermione's face softened as she gazed upon his tear streaked face. Stepping closer she wrapped her arms around him as her own tears made their way down her cheek. Whispering reassuring words to him, Hermione pulled back and led him to her bed. Sitting across from each other she tentatively touched his reddened cheek from where his father had struck him, noticing his split lip she reached into her bedside drawer retrieving a first aid kit.

They sat in silence as she cleaned his lip with practised ease that came from having to tend to cuts and bruises often. Jumping at the sudden thud that came from downstairs the two sibling locked eyes knowing come morning their mother would be in bed covered in bruises and their father would be nowhere in sight. The last one was more of a welcomed relief to both of them, but they knew their mother would retreat into herself till their father returned.

Hearing the muffled scream of their mother before the sound of the door being slammed shut, they both watched the door as they heard the cries of their mother. Knowing that she wouldn't come to check on them and instead crawl to her bed and lock herself in her bedroom Hermione cast a silencing spell at the door.

"Hermione, you can't do that if dad found out," Severus said frightened by the thought of what their father would do if he found out magic was being done in the house. Looking at her brothers fearful face she patted his thigh reassuringly, "we both know he won't be back for a few days and the spell will wear off by morning. Now let me see your cheek, we can't go to school with that bruise on your face." Hermione said as she placed her hand on his bruised cheek.

Feeling her magic dance across her open palm Hermione willed it out to heal her brother. Severus sat patiently as he felt the tingle of her magic move across his cheek before the painful throbbing and heat from the bruise subsided. Pulling her hand away Hermione smiled happily at her handiwork.

If someone would have told her that Severus Snape would be willing to let Hermione Granger console him she would have thought them mad. But here she was trying to lift her brothers spirit and get his mind off the hateful words and despicable actions his father had displayed. Sitting on their bedroom floor as he played with the toy soldiers Hermione had charmed to move she reflected on the past five years of her new life.

The first few months as Hermione Snape had been nothing but awful. Trying to deal with the fact she was trapped in an infant's body and had no hope of seeing her friends or family ever again, Hermione had spent the first eight months crying and cursing Severus Snape. She had eventually seen the possibilities of the chance she had been offered and had come to reluctantly accept her new life. But life in the Snape household had not been a pleasant one. Between the abusive and drunk father and the catatonic and depressed mother Hermione could see how Severus turned out the way he did, so cold and detached.

Tucking a frizzy curly lock of hair behind her ears Hermione made her way to their shared chest of drawers preparing to get ready for bed. Opening the door to their bedroom she silently made her way to the family shared bathroom. Quickly changing into her pyjamas Hermione then grabbed a footstool drugging it closer to the sink. Grabbing her toothbrush she begun her nightly dental hygiene routine that had been ingrained in her by her dentist parents. Rinsing off her toothbrush Hermione turned and caught herself on the full length mirror behind the bathroom door.

Stepping closer to the mirror she examined her face, something she was grateful had not changed. Her cheeks were plump from the baby fat a slight blush tinged her cheeks. Her button nose had three freckles on the bridge. She knew a few of the freckles would spread to cover her cheeks in the future. Smiling toothily she looked at her perfectly straight teeth, the only deterrent was the slightly larger front teeth. Her hair was mahogany brown with corkscrew curls that brushed her shoulders. Looking at her eyes Hermione smiled when she saw the same brown orbs staring back at her. She looked as she did when she was five from the family pictures her parents had shown her.

Hermione knew as she got older her mother Emma Grangers more African features would become present in her features. In all her baby pictures she had favoured her father's Daniel Granger European features. She did not know how she would handle the questions that were going to arise as her and Severus grew more different in their appearance.

But Hermione was glad that even though Eileen Snape had birthed her she was still the biological child of Daniel and Emma Granger and for that she was thankful. The connection to her past life made it easier to deal with her new one.

Returning back to their bedroom Hermione ushered Severus to get ready for bed. Once he was done they decided to share his bed, wanting to take comfort in each other after the tiring day. As she drifted off to sleep listening to her brothers deep breathing Hermione vowed to find a way to save them from this situation.

OoOooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The blaring of the alarm clock roused Hermione from her slumber, rubbing the sleep from her eyes she placed her feet on the cold wooden floor. Sleepily grabbing her change of clothes and a clean towel she made her way to the bathroom for a quick shower. Dressed and ready for the day she woke Severus and made him get ready. Going downstairs as her brother got dressed Hermione sighed at the destruction she met in the front room and kitchen.

Choosing to ignore the strewn about furniture in the front room she stepped into the kitchen. Waving her arm across the room she pictured what the room would look like fixed. Standing back she watched the small breakfast table right itself, the four chairs tucking themselves in. The broken plates and glasses mended themselves before floating into the sink to be shortly joined with the cutlery. The food strewn on the floor disappeared and the open cabinets closed.

Bracing herself on the refrigerator as a sudden dizzy spell took hold, Hermione closed her eyes waiting for the room to stop spinning. Once it had passed she slowly made her way to the toaster to prepare their breakfast. Sitting at the table as she waited for the toast Hermione tried to centre herself and prepare for the day. Feeling as her magic settled underneath her skin Hermione took comfort in the gentle presence it offered.

 **FLASHBACK**

 **Life as an infant was not the most entertaining thing. Well maybe it was to actual infants, but to an eighteen year old witch trapped in an infant version of her body it was...in the politest term mind numbingly boring. Not being able to interact the way she wanted with her environment Hermione had begun to slowly slip into a depressive state, but that changed a month after they turned one. Laying in her cot as Severus cried himself hoarse because he didn't have his favourite blanket Hermione had watched as he pulled himself up on wobbly legs and summoned the blanket to himself from across the room.**

 **His simple act of magic had inspired her, she had nothing but time to practise and hopefully perfect wandless and silent casting. It would give her something to do apart from dwelling on painful memories of her past life. With a new purpose she begun to do just that. A year of practising she found that the best she could do was only make her building blocks wobble. Frustrated by her lack of progress Hermione begun to feel the familiar feeling of depression taking hold.**

 **Losing herself to memories of her past she remembered the first time she had wrapped her fingers around her wand. The thrum of magic that pulsed as her fingers wrapped around the wand followed by the warmth and gentle buzz as yellow sparks shot out the end, the sense of completeness that washed over her. As Hermione revisited the memory she felt the fleeting presence of her magic course through her.**

 **A eureka moment struck her. She had been going about the whole thing the wrong way. Before every spell casting their were three principles that were important to cast a spell successfully. Incantation, visualisation, and intent. Casting with a wand or not the same principle was applied. But Severus at one years old didn't know the summoning charm. He had simply wanted his blanket and his magic had accommodated his request. Accomplishing it by only using visualisation and intent.**

 **Bolstered by her realisation Hermione had begun to practise magic sorely based on the new formula, but she once again hit a roadblock. It wasn't simply just being able to visualise what you wanted, she had to find a way to access her magic, bring it forth and push it out to do what she needed. Not losing hope she went back to the memory of finding her wand, focussing on the magic that she felt as her hand connected with the wand for the first time, she begun to search for the same entity within herself.**

 **Eighteen months of practising with deep meditation and clearing her mind of everything she had finally managed to sense the presence of her magic. More training had led her to be able to easily sense it and call to it.**

 **A few months after their fourth birthday she was able to push her magic out and will it to do what she needed. Even though she was able to easily use magic her young body tired easily if she used magic too demanding. But she was patient, she had time for her body to catch up to her magic. So she trained daily building up her body to do more and more complex spells.**

 **PRESENT**

The popping of the toast pulled her away from her thoughts. Not wanting to risk fainting Hermione decided against using magic so soon and pulled a step stool to the counter, climbing up she took two glasses out. Setting two slices of buttered toast on two plates and accompanying glasses of milk on the table, Hermione rushed to the counter to grab two bananas for both of them.

As she sat at the table to eat Severus joined her eating in silence because her brother was not a morning person Hermione swung her legs absentmindedly chewing on the toast and looking forward to getting out of the house for a few hours. Placing the dirty dishes in the sink to join the growing pile the two children made their way to the bathroom to brush their teeth. Dressed in their heavy winter coats the twins held onto each others hands as they made their way down the street to their school.

 **A/N: Honestly this story came about after reading too many flics where Hermione changed blood status and suddenly had amnesia forgetting all the fundamental things that shaped her in to who she is. I love fics that play with canon and change the characters a bit. But after seventeen years of being a muggle-born then a month as a pureblood making you change who you are...**

 **Hermione will be mixed race. So please save the reviews informing me that she is white in the book. Anything else I would love to hear from you guys.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Belongs to J.K Rowling.**

 ** _5th July 1966_**

The stuffy room was shrouded in darkness the heavy thick curtains blocking out the summer's sun. Six year old Hermione tiptoed her way to the chest of drawers that occupied the furthest wall from Eileen and Tobias's bed. Calling forth her magic a sudden bright ball of yellow light appeared in front of her hovering to the side of her head offering her the light she needed for her search. Trying to be as quiet as she could an act that wasn't necessary as she was alone in the house as Severus was tasked with delaying their mother at the grocery store and Tobias was Hermione assumed at work. She begun to look for any signs of anything magical. Quickly closing an already searched drawer Hermione moved on to another one.

Opening the bottom drawer Hermione moved the clothes to the side hoping to find something that would help her and Severus in their endeavour to free themselves. Brushing across a small box Hermione felt her magic respond to whatever the object was. Smiling happily Hermione pulled out what was clearly a shrunken trunk. Setting it on the floor Hermione enlarged the trunk, opening it she begun to look through it. It was packed full of seventh year textbooks that seemed to have not even been opened, new quills, full inkwells and unused parchments. Placing those items on the floor she next found Slytherin embezzled robes, and uniforms. Digging further in she came across an advanced potions making set, ignoring the temptation to open the kit and examine it she ploughed on. Coming across a money pouch Hermione bounced happily, opening it she poured the contents on the bed quickly counting what money was in there.

"24 galleons," she said into the quiet room, placing the money back into the pouch, "we can work with that." Shrinking the books she put them in her pocket, with the money pouch. Stuffing the uniforms, robes and quills back in to what order she thought they had been in, she closed the lid. Shrinking the trunk again Hermione placed it back in the bottom drawer in the back behind the women's underwear. Picking up the advanced potions making set and the parchments that she found Hermione made her way back to her and Severus's bedroom, the ball of light disappearing leaving the room in darkness once again.

As much as she wanted to investigate the potions kit she had one more thing that she needed to do. Picking up one of her extra notebooks Hermione placed her hand on the cover picturing the cover of " **Potions most Potent"** watching as her magic quickly changed the purple cover on the notebook to a simple leather one. Quickly Hermione went to work turning every page in to one from the potions book she had memorised.

Hermione was blessed with a very well organised mind. From a young age she had been able to recall passages word for word from books she had read. Her teacher noticing her ability to easily recall things had given her the book **The Art of Memory by Yates** a book that followed the history of mnemonic system from the classical period, and from there her system of remembering things by using the method of loci was born. Unbeknown to her at the tender age of eight Hermione Granger had been practising a form of occlumency.

This led to Hermione being able to easily recall a book she had read months previously by using this system or revisit a memory and recall it exactly and vividly. The first few months after her birth Hermione had retreated into the vast British Library in her mind that she used to store her memories. She would lay there and visit old memories of books she had read or spend hours listing the potions alphabetically from the book Potions most Potent.

Sitting on her bed as she recalled the potions before magically printing them onto the now transfigured book Hermione thanked Mrs. Williams for giving her that book all those years ago, a lifetime ago. Looking at her handiwork she couldn't help the pang of guilt she felt for another lie she had to tell Severus. Some Days she felt so guilty for not sharing things with him, he believed her lies so easily that it made her uncomfortable and question her own morals. But this was the only way of feasibly explaining how she knew how to brew what they were about to begin brewing. The seventh year potions book that his mother had didn't have the potions they needed. 'What's one more lie.' she thought.

Looking at the book one last time she shrunk it and placed it with the other books she had taken. Hearing the front door open she quickly shrunk the potions making kit before stuffing it in their chest of drawers. Hearing someone call her name Hermione rushed downstairs.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Are you sure this is going to work?" a worried Severus asked his sister. They were both on Hermione's bed laying down and facing each other. "What if we do something wrong, what if Tobias finds out?"

"This is the only way Sev, we need money so we don't need Tobias anymore," Hermione said imploring her brother to understand, " Trust me, all we need to do is follow the instructions. We are the smartest kids in our entire class...heck the school. We can do this." Sitting up she looked down at the boy laying down on her bed, the moonlight casting shadows across his features.

"The potions kit we found was fully stocked and we only had to throw away a few of the ingredients that saves us from having to buy any ingredients for a while. With the money we found we can place an ad in the wizarding paper and if there is any money left we can buy a few select potion ingredients and even get you a wand."

Bolting up at the mention of a possible wand a new information that Hermione had added to their plan Severus knew mainly for his benefit. "We can get a wand?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes Sev we can get a wand but it depends on how much the add costs. Of course we will have to go to Knockturn Alley because it's illegal for you to have a wand, so no promises."

Joining Hermione against the wall he grabbed her hand, looking at Hermione's face which was slightly visible by the moon's light he added, " I trust you." Because he did, Hermione had never led him astray and she did everything in her power to protect them, this was just one of them. A more dangerous, crazy one but still her trying to protect them.

They both sat there silently holding hands in their slightly darkened bedroom, the open curtain letting in the light of the new full moon, lost in their own thoughts. Breaking the silence he said jokingly, "If the wizarding police come after us for all the illegal things we are doing, I'm blaming it on you. "

Smiling Hermione replied, "I'll take the fall for both of us."

And Severus knew that she would without giving it a second thought.

 ** _9 January 1969_**

Thick snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky blanketing the residents of Spinner's End in inches of snow. Their roofs were thatched white with the heavy snow, the ground resembled a sea of white. The snow lay mostly undisturbed as most people chose to stay indoor and take refuge in their warm homes. At number 13 Spinner's End two newly turned nine year old were celebrating their birthday.

The home was warm, the fireplace being lit to provide extra heat into the house, the smell of baked goods drifted from the kitchen and the sound of laughter and voices from the many children invited to the birthday party filled the home. It was all that that made the home warm, because for the first time since the Snape children had lived at number 13 Spinner's End their home was truly filled with happiness.

A few days after Hermione had discovered the potions making kit her and Severus had begun brewing potions in the hopes of selling them using the Daily Prophet mail order. A few weeks after they had placed the ad they had received their first order. Business had been slow taking off but Hermione was confident that it would pick up because she was certain that theirs were superior to what was currently on the market. She had grappled with herself about the ethics of her using Severus's own improvements from the future to improve their potions but assured her conscience that she was not doing it to keep the money for herself but to improve their lives.

Hermione had been proven right soon word of mouth had spread and Snape's Potions had received an increase in orders two months later. As soon as they had made their first profit Hermione had gone to work getting rid of Tobias Snape. Feeding him a sleeping draught Hermione charmed his wedding band with a compulsion charm that simply made him not want to ever come back to number 13 Spinner's End.

A couple of days after his departure Hermione and Severus had sat Eileen down and explained to her what they had done from sending her husband away to the business they had running out of their bedroom. Her first reaction had been outrage at their actions, she spent a good few minutes berating them on the dangers of children brewing potions unsupervised to the illegality of placing compulsion charms on their father before she wrapped them in a hug and proceeded to cry.

Over the following months Eileen Snape had come out of her fog. Her once dull and frayed hair got back it's shine and health. Her alabaster skin once pallid and sickly looking had a healthy glow to it, her dimmed blue eyes shone once more. But most of all was how much more she interacted and took part in her children's lives. Severus had loved the woman his mother had become a woman he always knew was there all along. It had taken Hermione a lot longer to come around to the idea of Eileen taking on a more motherly role. With Eileen's new role in their lives they let her in on their use of underage magic. Hermione had naturally downplayed her abilities and focused more on bolstering Severus's quick study when it came to comprehending and learning new spells. As much as Eileen had wanted to question Hermione more on her magic she knew that she was still on unsteady ground with her daughter and had simply offered to help them both practise their spells once she bought a new wand.

Eileen had been impressed by the brewing ability, the fact that they had managed to do all of it from their cramped bedroom had made her proud and ashamed at herself the same time. How she had not noticed for months that their bedroom had been partially converted into a working potions lab still made her hang her head in shame. She had offered to help them anyway that they needed and had quickly been put to work being trained by Severus on how to prepare ingredients. Informing them that she had been accepted to the advanced potions class for her seventh year so she already knew how to prepare ingredient Severus had smiled at her and quickly informed her that what she was taught was the wrong way.

Deciding to humour them she learnt their method which quickly proved to be one of the ways their potions were much more superior. Embracing their methods she learned quickly from them, soon she was brewing alongside them.

As she placed the nine candles on the chocolate frosted chocolate cake she glanced up to see her children happily sat on the floor around the coffee table both happily chatting to different groups of their friends. She stilled for a moment to compare her two children. With every year that passed Hermione looked more and more different from her brother. Her once bouncy corkscrew curls had changed to include a mixture of 's' shaped curls. She had never been as pale as the rest of them but her white complexion had taken on a more olive tint to it. Her lips had remained full while Severus's had thinned out. If she had not been present for her birth she would have sworn that she was not her child.

Carrying the cake into the front room she turned off a few lights as she begun to sing happy birthday to her children, soon everyone joined in. Placing the cake on the table the knelt next to Hermione.

"Make a wish and blow out your candles," she said happily as everyone watched on. Closing their eyes they made their wish and blew out the candles as the flames went out everyone clapped. Standing up and leaning across the table the two siblings hugged. Placing a kiss atop their heads she gently hugged them whist she whispered quite I love you.

As the cake was divided up Hermione was happily talking to a boy named Mark who she shared a few classes with but was more Severus's friend than her own. Feeling someone tap her shoulder she turned around and was immediately enveloped into a hug her face buried in curly hair. Pulling back with a smile on her face Hermione beamed at her closest friend Mary, "I thought you weren't coming?"

"I wouldn't miss your birthday, just got held up with after church stuff," Mary replied rolling her eyes at the last statement. Nodding her head in understanding Hermione took the gift that was in her arms before handing her a slice of cake. Taking the offered plate and offering a quick thanks Mary quickly said, "hope you don't mind but I brought a friend. We go to the same church and she is really nice I think you two would get along great."

Grabbing the arm of the girl who was stood slightly back from them Mary brought her forward and introduced them, "Hermione Snape, this is Lilly Evans."

As Hermione shook the offered hand her smile tightly in place she locked eyes with Lilly. Seeing those dark emerald green eyes looking back at her memories of a dark haired boy with those same eyes flooded her mind. Hermione's heart tattooed painfully against her rib cage, the ever present sense of loss and heartache she carried with her since her new life begun flared angrily. Sweat beaded on her hairline, her skin felt clammy and she looked sickly. Tearing her eyes away from Lily Hermione quickly excused herself needing to distance herself from those eyes. As she stumbled outside the two girls she left behind looked at each other not really understanding what had just happened.

Opening the back door that led to their small garden Hermione stumbled landing painfully on her hands and knees. As she took deep breaths to try and regain the air that seemed to be missing from her lungs she felt the hot tears that dropped from her eyes. Sitting on her hunches Hermione lost herself to her memories as she silently cried.

Severus having noticed Hermione's sudden departure from the party followed her outside and found her sitting on the frozen ground. Her mahogany coloured locks fluttered around her as an unknown wind swirled around her picking up snowflakes in their wake making her look like a figurine trapped in a snow globe. Stepping closer to her he felt the magic in the air, as he knelt down in front of her he took in her vacant expression and tear streaked face. Grabbing her shoulders gently he inquired as to what was wrong, receiving no response he shook her gently hoping to break whatever trance she was in. Her head flapped about like a rag doll, as the minutes ticked by the wind whipping around them increased. The magic in the air intensified making the air static and crackle with magic. He was shivering his sweater not providing enough protection from the wind and cold air around them. Clenching his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering he wrapped Hermione in his arms. Every cell in his body screamed for him to run, to seek safety but he held on tighter to her, his lips pressed next to her ear he begged her to come back, to not leave him.

As more and more memories flashed before her Hermione heard her brother's voice pleading with her to come back. Focusing on his voice Hermione let his words bring her out of her mind. Feeling arms around her and hearing Severus's laboured breaths and chattering teeth Hermione pulled away to look into his obsidian eyes.

Bringing her hand to cup his cheek she noticed his more than normal pale skin, his lips were blue and he was trembling. Coming back to her senses she pulled him back into a hug, raining in her magic the wind stopped and the snowflakes settled on the ground, wrapping it around Severus she begun to warm him.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione chanted not only to her brother but to the brother she had left behind. Unbeknown to them a pair of green eyes had been watching them the entire time. As the two sibling calmed down they decided to head back inside, Severus had a possessive arm around his sister's shoulder whilst Hermione wrapped an arm around her brothers slim waist using him as an anchor to ground her to the present.

With a much more subdued presence they stayed for the rest of their party, never once leaving the others side. As the last guest left the house two hour later Hermione made her way to their shared bedroom longing for nothing more than to close her eyes to the day's events.

Eileen worriedly watched as the two children made their way up the stairs. She had noticed their more quiet disposition after they came back from outside and watched as they acted like the others shadow. As Severus climbed the last step and she lost sight of him her heart clenched painfully as she wished that her children would come to her for the comfort they surely looked like they needed. Sighing at the thought she reminded herself that there was no one to blame for that than herself. She appeased herself with the fact that at least they had each other.

Severus stood with his back pressed firmly to the closed door as Hermione made her way to the area where they stored their completed potions. She took a sip of a dreamless sleep potion and silently climbed into their shared bed, Severus having offered to lose his bed long ago so they could have more space to brew. Climbing into the bed fully dressed and having forgone her nightly ritual Hermione closed her eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Changing into pyjamas Severus joined her on their shared bed. Laying on his back he held her hand and listened to her deep breathing. Casting his gaze to her sleeping form every now and again to make sure she was still there Severus let his own tears fall. He worried about her greatly, sometimes she would spend a large amount of time just staring off into nothing with this far away melancholy look. She had other moments where she would just start crying for no reason, never truly explaining why. Then there were the nightmares that had her waking up crying and scared. Whenever he asked her what they were about she would always reply that it was a nightmare involving their father, but Severus knew she was lying most of the time. Because she would mumble other people's names and other times she would be apologising to mom and dad. This was puzzling because she never called them that, she used mother and father. But this episode was something he had never seen before, what was most terrifying was her losing control of her magic.

Then there was the way Hermione just knew things without ever having learnt them before. They were twins and spent almost every moment together from when they woke till when they fell asleep. So when it came time to learn to tie his shoelaces it was Hermione who had taught him, when the public pool opened once again it was Hermione who had taught him how to swim. It was always Hermione teaching him. When he had asked her how she knew she simply replied, that she had read it somewhere.

Turning on his side he looked at her peaceful sleeping face and placed a kiss on her forehead. As his eyes closed and his breathing deepened he vowed he would do anything to protect her.

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Muffled footsteps could be heard coming from the other side of her bedroom door signalling her parents departure to their bedroom. As the hallway light went off Lily Evans bedroom was draped in darkness. Turning to lie on her back she stared at the darkened ceiling her mind going over what she had witnessed in the Snape's back garden. A bubble of excitement sprung up within her at the memory of the event. Burying herself further into her duvet she begun planning a way to get to know how they had done it.

 **A/N: The moment Hermione was sent back she never had a chance to know what memories Severus had given Harry. So she has no idea about his and Lily's relationship or lack of one. Even though Hermione believed snape had a reason as to why he killed Dumbledore, she still isn't certain. Meaning she can't really trust him completely. So let me know what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you SB-Potterhead Budgie Lover for the review and those who followed me and the story.**

 ** _16th January 1969_**

The sky outside was grey the threat of rain hung heavy in the air. The snow from the previous week was all melted leaving behind brown earth and dead plants. Four owls stood proudly on the Snape's kitchen table with their foots out waiting patiently for the packages to be attached. As Hermione tied the packages to the owls legs and gave out instructions the owl would hoot, playfully nip at her finger and take off through the open kitchen window. As the last owl made it's way outside she quickly shouted, "be careful it's going to rain."

Receiving what she translated to be an indignant hoot in return she chuckled. Washing her hands at the kitchen sink Hermione turned her attention to the dirty breakfast dishes that filled the sink. Today being her day for doing the dishes she turned on the radio, which was already on the station she wanted. As Nina Simone Do What You Gotta Do filled the quiet space in the kitchen Hermione set about washing the dishes before laying them on the drying rack. Letting herself enjoy the simple task of dancing as she tidied up Hermione felt herself relax. As the songs changed the room become tidier as she was about to move into the front room a hoot alerted her to the presence of an unknown owl in the kitchen.

Grabbing a treat from a jar on the counter she offered it to the bird before taking the offered letter. Looking down at the formal envelope that had their potions store name beautifully written on the front in a metallic green ink that glinted whenever it caught the light she turned it over she saw St Mungo's crest stamped on the wax seal of the envelope.

Breaking the seal she quickly read the letter, reading it one more time to be sure before she bounded up the stairs and barged into their bedroom. At the sudden appearance of Hermione mother and son stopped their discussions on the best way to extract boom berry juice. Taking in her flushed face and how she kept waving the letter excitedly Severus asked, "who's the letter from."

Not bothering to answer Hermione handed him the letter as she excitedly waited for him to finish reading. Locking eyes before reading the letter again Severus handed it to his mother before swooping in and hugging his sister, lifting her off the ground and spinning her as he laughed. Eileen Snape looked at the letter tears running down her face as the pride and joy she felt for her children increased. Looking at the letter again she read the words one more time.

 _ **Dear Severus and Hermione Snape,**_

 _ **Having come across several of your potions we at St Mungo's would like to arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss the possibility of you becoming our main potions supplier for the potions listed below.**_

 _ **Skele-Grow**_

 _ **Pepperup**_

 _ **Dreamless Sleep**_

 _ **Blood-Replenishing**_

 _ **Calming Draught**_

 _ **Sleeping Draught**_

 _ **Kindly send your reply with the owl.**_

 _ **Regards,**_

 _ **Rehema Shafiq**_

 **Administrator of St Mungo's**

As she watched her two children talk excitedly about what supplying St Mungo's would mean for them she smiled. " I am so proud of both of you," she said voice full emotions.

"You should write the reply letter," Hermione said as she made her way to their shared desk and grabbed a parchment and fountain pen, before handing it to Severus.

"Are you sure?" he asked tentatively, "it was you suggestions that improved the potions."

'Well technically it was your methods', Hermione thought. "I'm sure Sev, it might have been my suggestions that helped but you are a natural at this and we always knew that you would head it one day. So this is practice for that."

"I'm not ready to do this on my own yet."

"I know and we will do this together until you are ready. This has been your dream Severus, it's only fair you be the one to reply."

Hermione smiled as she watched Severus pen their reply in his neat cursive writing. She hadn't been lying when she said Severus was a natural because he was. Severus's thinking was conceptual seeing things that she and others missed. He had come along in leaps and bounds ever since their first brewing lesson and he kept pushing himself to discover more. Hermione believed in a few years he would surpass her and she was looking forward to it.

She thought back to her sixth year and why she was so cross with Harry because of the half-blood Prince book. Yes she was upset that he was technically cheating but what had got her so upset was that she herself had never thought of questioning or experimenting with how to prepare potion ingredients and brewing methods. Crushing the sopophorous been instead of cutting it to extract the juice had been such an obvious thing to do yet she had never considered it instead diligently following the official instructions. That's why the book had upset her greatly, it was filled with ideas that she herself had never considered. It was a reminder of her not being as clever as she thought she was.

Pulling herself from her thoughts she followed him downstairs and watched as he attached the letter to the owl still waiting at the kitchen table. "Right so time to start planning," Hermione said grabbing a notebook and pen, " where do you want to start?"

Sitting at the table the family of three begun planning what was needed to supply such a large quantity of potions to the wizarding hospital.

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 _ **20th January 1969**_

The waiting area outside the administrator's office was stark white, a few potted plants were placed around the room drawing people's eyes away from the too white marble floor, ceiling and walls. No paintings or any artwork adorned the walls, a large mirror almost occupied an entire wall. Two pairs of two seater sofas took up space in the middle of the room facing each other, forming a perfect square.

Severus sat nervously between his sister and mother waiting to be called in to the meeting. Rubbing his sweaty palm against his black dress pants he glanced at Hermione who was sat still next to him looking nothing but the picture of composure. Glancing to his left he saw his mother was mirroring Hermione, the only tell that showed her nerves was the continual running of her hands across her dress. An act that looked like she was erasing wrinkles from her dress but was actually her wiping her sweaty palms.

As the door across from them opened the receptionist who had welcomed them earlier made her way out and towards them, her heels click clacking loudly in the silent room. Stopping in front of them she smiled easily, "she will see you now," she said gesturing towards the door, " follow me." Pivoting on her heal she lead them to her bosses office, holding the door open for them she ushered them in before following them in.

Rehema Shafiq stood as her ten am appointment walked into her office. Her gaze moving from the woman to the children in front of her she looked at her assistant questioningly. Seeing her shrug her shoulders in response, she turned her attention back to the three new people standing in front of her. Shaking all their hands she introduced herself, " Hello, I am Rehema Shafiq Hospital Administrator of St Mungo's thank you for getting back in touch so soon and coming to meet with me. Please sit." she said indicating to the four chairs in front of her desk.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, we are looking forward to hopefully coming to some agreement by the end of this meeting," Hermione replied politely, " I am Hermione Snape and this is my brother Severus Snape and we are the co-founders of Snape's Potions and our mother and employee Eileen Snape."

Startled by the news Rehema leaned forward on her chair placing her elbows on her desk and looking at what she assumed was an eight or nine year old girl." I'm sorry but did you just say that you are the founders of Snape's Potions?" she asked while looking at her assistant who was sat behind them taking notes. Taking in her bewildered look she guessed that she also didn't know that bit of information.

"Yes we are," the twins replied together.

Looking at their mother Rehema asked, "so are you the one that brews their potions?"

Smiling politely at the woman Eileen answered, " yes I help with the brewing but every recipe and improvement is their own making. My children began brewing when they were six, experimenting and perfecting potions by the time they turned seven. Do not let their youth fool you they are very talented and hardworking," she said as she gazed lovingly at her children.

Pulling out five folders Hermione handed them to everyone in the room. "As you can see on the first page every potion you have requested from us has been certified by the International Potions Association as being superior to the ones currently on the market," waiting for the the two women in the room who had not seen the report before to finish reading she let Severus do the next part.

"As you can see on pages 3' 7' and 11 our formula for Skele-Grow, Blood replenishing and Peperup potions cut the healing time in half with half the dosage normally required to achieve this. Resulting in you saving money and time for your staff and the patients leaving the hospital quicker freeing you to treat more people for fraction of the cost."

Hermione continued on from where Severus left of, " on pages 15 and 18 you can see that the addictive element to the Dreamless Sleep and Sleeping Draught have been neutralised and the lingering grogginess after waking up is no longer a problem. Turning to page 22 you will note that our calming draught doesn't leave one glassy eyed, vacant looking or catatonic like most others do."

As Rehema and her assistant read over their collected data they both marvelled at the ingenuity and brilliance of the young children.

"And all their potions are patented, so you won't be able to get this anywhere else," their mother quickly added.

"You are telling me you did all this when you were six?" the assistant who had been sitting silently at the back asked.

Turning to face the woman Severus responded, "yes but we hadn't perfected it till nine months after our seventh birthday." Smiling at the gobsmacked expression he turned back around.

Once they came to an agreement on the price and quantity a contract was drawn up. "We will have our lawyer look at this before we sign."

Severus stated as he placed the contract in his coat pocket.

Nodding Rehema stood up signalling the end of the meeting, saying their goodbyes the three of them left the office. Once outside the small family embraced sharing their joy at a successful meeting.

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Severus Snape looked at the empty room that had once been a pastry store. The display counter, stands and the tables and chairs that once filled the room were gone, the shelves around the store were empty. He moved to the back of the store to what used to be the kitchen. It was larger than the previous room but also lay empty and bare the appliances having been taken away a long time ago.

This was one of the best possible store locations they had seen that day and by the looks from Hermione and his mother they both seemed to agree. After a quick conversation between the three they agreed to rent it.

"We would like to rent the store," he said confidently to the older wizard who had showed them various properties throughout the day.

Smiling happily he pulled out a rental agreement contract and began filling it out. "Blood Status please."

"Excuse me?" Severus asked bewildered.

"I need your blood status to know what rent you will pay," he said as if the statement was the most obvious thing.

Hermione furrowed her brow and looked at her brother in confusion, glancing at Eileen and the elder wizard they both seem nonplused by the entire thing.

" I'm a pureblood i could sign as their sponsor to bring the rent down slightly." Eileen asked the realtor.

"That law has been changed, a lot of muggle borns begun paying poor purebloods to act as their sponsors. So the law was changed," he answered.

"So what is the rent then for half bloods?" Severus asked.

"two hundred galleons a month."

"What about muggle-borns?" Hermione asked, dreading the answer she was about to receive.

"five hundred..."

Before he could finish Hermione had intercepted him, "what! That's more than half what the half bloods pay, what about purebloods?"

"one hundred."

At the answer Hermione laughed, "of course, Sev you can help mom fill the forms. I'm going to go outside for a bit." Stopping in her tracks she turned back to ask the man, "how do you verify someone's blood status?"

"The forms," he said waving them about, "are sent to the ministry who look it up against the records and family trees of purebloods and half-bloods.

Shaking her head Hermione waited outside the store, she looked at the numerous stores that lined the busy street and wondered how many of them were owned by muggle-borns, almost none was her conclusion. Those prices were meant to keep her kind away.

They had picked a great location, there was an apparation point a few metres down the street, so they received plenty of foot traffic. They were nestled between a high end hair salon and tailors with a few restaurants down the the street. She hoped they would be a success in their new location.

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 ** _January 25 1969_**

The sun was slowly rising, the night sky getting lighter as the minutes passed. Hermione and Severus's bedroom was completely transformed into a working potions lab. One side of the room was solely for ingredient preparations, while the other side was lined with large cauldrons. Their one bed and shared dresser had been shrunk with them taking turns sleeping on the couch or sharing their Eileen's' bed.

They were still waiting to hear back if they had cleared with the ministry before moving their potion brewing to the store. Hermione stirred the potion four times clockwise before waiting a minute to stir it six times anti clockwise. Taking it off the heat she waited for the potion to cool as she couldn't use magic to speed it along so she moved about the other bubbling cauldrons. Adding the needed ingredients and writing down what she had done so the next person to take over her shift would know where to go from.

After they had received the amended contract from Gringotts from St Mungo's they had begun their brewing. They had calculated that it would take them a little over two weeks with all of them brewing non stop to produce the large quantity the hospital needed. They had managed to keep to the schedule fairly well.

Hearing the creak of the door open Hermione saw Severus step into the room still dressed in pyjamas. "Morning Sev,"

"Morning Hermione, you look really tired."

Chuckling she said, "well I feel very tired, looking forward to getting a few hours sleep."

After she had walked him through what needed to be done next with the potions she bid him goodnight and made her way to the sofa in the living room. Looking forward to the five hours of sleep she was due for.

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Hermione felt someone one shaking her awake, swatting their arms away she mumbled, "five more minutes please." The shaking didn't stop though but only intensified, "okay, okay I'm up," she said grumpily.

"Mary is on the phone for you."

She looked at Severus incredulously, "you couldn't have told her to call back?"

"I did and she has called back every five minutes. Mom was threatening to disconnect the phone if she rung one more time."

Groggily dragging herself to the kitchen where the phone was on the table she picked up the receiver, "hello?"

"OMG Hermione I have been calling you for ages! Why aren't you at school?" Mary's loud voice came through the headset.

"Mary calm down, me and Severus have mumps so can't come to school till we aren't contagious anymore," she said the lie they had agreed upon to explain their absence from school.

"Oh sorry, well I have all your homework and notes waiting for you."

Sitting down at the table Hermione said, "thank you Mary, so how is school going?"

As she listened to her friend tell her the happenings of what they had missed during the absence from school she stroked one of their delivery owls. Deciding to cut the phone call short so she could have a shower before returning to potions brewing she begun to say her goodbyes before Mary interrupted her.

" You know the girl Lily from your birthday?"

"Yeah," she answered not knowing where this was going.

"She invited us to her birthday on the 30th, should I let her know you and Severus are coming?"

"Uhh yeah sure, I'll call you later Mary, bye."

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 _ **January 30th 1969**_

Severus stood in the Evans front room as the birthday party went on around him. He had no interest in being here, thinking their time would have been better spent setting up their store. They had finally received the all clear from the ministry and he had been itching to get started, but Hermione had insisted on going with or without him. Stating she wanted to enjoy being a kid for a while especially after the last few days they spent finishing their order for St Mungo's.

Taking a sip of his coke his eyes landed once again on the birthday girl who hadn't taken her eyes off of them since they had arrived. He turned to look at Hermione who was next to him talking with Mary and someone else he didn't remember their name about an up and coming band.

Excusing himself he went in search of some food, stopping at the snacks table he felt a pair of eyes on him, turning he caught the gaze of Lily Evans who had sidled up to him without him realising.

"Happy Birthday," he said as he placed a sandwich and a few crisps on his paper plate.

"Thank you," she replied shyly.

"Why do you keep starring at us?" Severus asked defensively.

Lily floundered for a bit stammering out a response that would appease the angry looking boy but in the end decided to say the truth, " I saw what you and your sister did on your birthday and just wanted to know how you did it."

Panicked Severus quickly replied, "I don't know what you are talking about." Trying to escape the girl he didn't get very far before he felt her tight grip on his forearm.

"I just wanted to know because I can do it to," she whispered.

The statement having grabbed his attention he turned to the red head, eyes squinting, " what have you done?"

Licking her dry lips she whispered, " I jumped from my swing set and instead of falling like I was going to I floated and once I broke my big sister's favourite ballerina figurine but then I touched it and it mended itself."

Taking hold of her hand he led her to a quieter place in the front room before explaining to her that she was a witch and couldn't tell anyone. That was how the friendship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans begun. In a secluded area of her home whispering about a new world.

 **A:/N: I know there are a lot of time jumps but I wanted to cover their earlier years before they attended Hogwarts. Their Hogwarts years will be a lot more detailed. Please review and let me know.**


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N; took me long enough but here it is.**_

September 1st 1971

The cacophony of noise in the station played havoc on Remus Lupins sensitive hearing. Two days after a full moon and his senses were more heightened, making the crowded train platform torture to his sense. Wincing as his delicate nose picked up unpleasant smells, he turned to his mother, seeking out the familiar and comfortable. He had never thought that he would have been able to attend Hogwarts but here he was about to board the train.

A part of him a bigger part than he wanted to admit thought him going was a mistake. The voice in his head, which sounded similarly to his father's kept pointing out all the ways this could go wrong. How he could endanger others by just his presence, that he was safer away from everyone. As his thoughts shifted from the excitement of attending Hogwarts to the dangers of his presence his mood took a declining turn.

Feeling a gentle squeeze to his shoulders Remus looked up to his mother's smiling face. A smile that had not left her prematurely wrinkled face since the visit from Albus Dumbledore. Her excitement for him attending the wizarding school surpassed his own. Through all the hardships and knock backs that had plagued him and his family, his mother had never lost her optimism. She was the ever present and soothing balm to his broken and aching psyche. Looking back in those hazel green eyes he shared with his mother, he thwarted away the negative voices that plagued him and felt a renewal of excitement.

A sudden and overpowering smell of fear overwhelmed his senses and Remus let out a low involuntary growl. Thankfully with all the noise around the station it was lost in the chatter of excited voices. Scanning around the platform he looked for the source. His gaze landed on a family near the end of the platform. An immaculately dressed raven haired mother accompanied by her son who shared the same dark locks and pale skin. Standing beside the boy was a girl who looked nothing like her companions.

Her gravity defying brown curls were loose framing her bronzed face in a halo of curls. She was significantly shorter than the boy standing next to her who was closer to Remus's own height. While her two companions were dressed as what you would see other pureblood families adorned in. Well tailored indigo dress and camel coloured coat for the mother. Pristine white Oxford shirt tucked into black dress pants for the boy, an expensive black cape draped across his shoulders. She was garbed in muggle attire. From her black military style boots, deep emerald green almost black woven tights. To her light blue denim style dungaree dress that fell above her knees, deep plum coloured sweater underneath and her oversized denim jacket. If the effect she was going for was to stand out from the other two, then she had achieved it Remus thought.

Taking in her body movements and appearance he could not detect any signs of distress from her but she was giving off a strong smell of fear. More than what the other first years were exhibiting. Theirs was small traces of fear mixed in with excitement. From her...it was a deep sense of fear filled with dread and he couldn't understand what could have brought that on. He didn't know how long he had been studying the family but suddenly his eyes locked on with hers. He watched as her brows furrowed before her eyes enlarged in surprise. Just as quickly as the smell of fear had arrived it just as suddenly dissipated, along with her.

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Ever since the arrival of their acceptance letters Hermione had been equal parts dreading and looking forward to this day. This was going to mark the beginning of what she hoped would be a different outcome to the first wizarding war. Her biggest worry at the moment was losing control of her emotions when stepping foot on Hogwarts grounds. Which would result in her control over her magic slipping, she needed control. it wouldn't do to bring attention to herself this early on.

"you will write me once you know what houses you will be in," her mother's voice cut through her thoughts. Turning her attention to her conversing family she tried to ignore the unease she felt.

"there will be no need for that, we will be in Slytherin," Severus stated confidently. His face a mask of no emotion except his eyes which shone with excitement.

"speak for yourself Severus, I might end up in Hufflepuff. I embody all their traits," Hermione said as she maneuvered around the bodies on the platform. Scrunching his face in distaste Severus replied, "don't jest like that."

Taking in his soured face Hermione laughed, "and what if I am? Will you denounce me dear brother?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot playfully.

"the chances of you being a puff are laughable. I have never met anyone more Slytherin than you and that's including me."

At his statement Hermione's arms dropped to her side. There was nothing wrong with being ambitious and cunning and she knew she had those traits in spades and had used them many times to get her way. It was the idea of being in a different house that slightly bothered her. She admonished herself at the thought, it was all trivial which house you belonged to, it didn't define you, but she hoped she would end up in the house of the lions. Having that small part of her old life in her new life would be a wonderful gift. To sleep in the same dorms and have the same common room would help her keep close the memories she treasured with her former friends.

Feeling as though she was being watched Hermione turned her head and locked gazes with a pair of light green eyes flecked with amber. She had only ever met one man with those eyes and had spent most of her third year fawning over him. Taking in the lanky boy dressed in slightly worse for wear clothing she begun connecting the dots. His sandy brown hair was parted on the side and brushed neatly away from his face. He looked pale and underfed, deep bags were visible under his eyes.

As she realised that she was staring at the younger version of Remus Lupin Hermione begun to feel memories beginning to overwhelm her. Quickly bringing up her mental shields to keep them at bay and control her emotions she averted her gaze and made a hasty retreat to the train.

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His grey eyes looked at the happy families saying their goodbyes. Mothers doting on her children before sending them off, fathers standing proudly as he watched his progeny go off. Children smiling and waving to loved ones. A stab of envy hit him, he didn't have that, had never had that. He had received a stern lecture from both his parents not to disappoint and embarrass the most ancient and noble house of Black. Before leaving him to floo to the platform by himself.

Scoffing at the thought of his family he turned his gaze to the occupants in the train carriage. His cousins Bella and Cissy sat across from him while Andromeda sat beside him. He knew they were under strict instructions to keep an eye on him and to make sure he didn't socialise with any unsavoury characters. He felt as though he would never be able to escape his family and all they represented.

He didn't hold the same views as them and apart from his uncle Alphard and Andromeda no one else truly knew the real him. As the train left the station he vowed to himself that he would break free of them, show everyone that not all Blacks were mad or hateful.

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Hearing the door sliding open James Potter looked up to a pale and skinny boy standing at the door nervously. Spotting his trunk behind him James bolted up, "let me help you with that," he said as he took hold of one end of the trunk. As they both heaved the battered old trunk to the overhead storage compartment the two boys introduced themselves.

Taking a seat across from each other James decided to instigate more conversation from the seemingly shy boy. " are you excited about Hogwarts?" he asked clearly excited. Not waiting for an answer he launched into describing how he was looking forward to finally meeting other kids the same age as him.

Remus sat back and listened as James spoke about his home life as an only child to ageing parents and his love for quidditch and his excitement about learning magic and making friends.

"sorry about that," James said as he realised he had monopolised the conversation, "my mom tells me I need to let other people talk sometime. So tell me about what you like to do and what you are looking forward to."

Smiling shyly Remus rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "not much, I enjoy reading..." looking at his feet he continued, "...I'm an only child as well. Looking forward to making friends and doing magic." he admitted shyly his ears redeeming.

"Friends!" James said loudly holding out his outstretched arm to Remus. Looking questioningly at the raven haired boy he took his hand and shook it, "friends." he echoed.

Smiling at his new friends James sat back as they chatted about lessons and what was ahead of them. He didn't know why he offered to become his friend so quickly but there was something about Remus Lupin that he liked and he could see a great friendship forming between them.

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Severus was on a search for Lily Evans, the fiery red head was supposed to have met them at the station but Severus must have missed her. Deciding to look in the train compartments, he hoped that she might have arrived early and decided to board the train and save them a compartment. Opening a compartment he was met with the sight of two first year buys, before he could make his exit he noticed the Potter crest.

"Hello," he said in his most cultured voice he thought. A voice that Hermione dubbed his pompous voice. "I'm Severus Snape," he introduced himself.

"James Potter and Remus Lupin," James replied.

Remus having read most of the first year textbooks recognised Severus's name.. "are you related to Severus and Hermione Snape?"

Turning his gaze to the poorly dressed boy Severus sighed before replying in a bored tone, "I'm Severus Snape and my twin sister is Hermione Snape."

"wow, you two wrote our potions book. That's amazing."

Ignoring the compliment delivered by Remus, Severus cuttingly replied, "writing of a potions book is highly the highlight of our lives, but I suppose someone like you wouldn't understand." he finished looking him up and down in distaste.

Understanding what the other boy was doing James was having none of it, "watch yourself, there is no need for that."

"for someone of your status you should be hanging out with your own." Severus said in reference to his affluent family.

"and you should stick to your bigoted kind," a new voice said from behind Severus before pushing him into the compartment. Taken off guard by the sudden attack he stumbled forward before bracing himself against the window to stop from colliding with it.

Turning to face his attacker he saw the smirking face of Sirius Black who was blocking his exit. Rolling his eyes at the newcomer he opened his palm activating his arm holster which placed his wand in his waiting hand. "you don't want to do this."

"brave," Sirius laughed whilst twirling his wand. "three against one."

Severus wasn't worried about the numbers, he had spent the past few years duelling with Hermione. If he could last five minutes with her he was sure he was going to come out just fine against three eleven year olds.

Before he could attack he noticed the Black family crest on Sirius's ring. Attacking this two would not bode well for his future. Severus knew that the friends and alliances he made in Hogwarts would have a great influence on his future. They were the ones who would either help him open doors or bar him from joining those great institutions he wanted. He had first hand account of this. His and Hermione's success had been hard to come by. At every turn there had been a member of the elite wizarding community barring them.

Hermione had refused to play their games and stuck to the belief that hard work and talent would set them apart and open up those doors they needed. Severus didn't share the same mindset, he knew you could only get so far on those and having friends in the right places helped a great deal.

Swallowing his pride Severus placed his wand back in the arm holster. Hopefully this incident would be soon forgotten or he could find a way to smooth it over. Glancing around the compartment one more time he made his exit.

As the unwanted boy left the compartment Sirius Black turned to his fellow accomplices, "hello I'm Sirius Black."

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Hermione felt transported back to the past, the great hall looked exactly as it had the first time she had seen it as an excited eleven year old. The ceiling of the great hall showcased the clear starry night outside. Hundreds of candles floated high above the tables illuminating the returning students who were busy conversing about their holidays while waiting for the sorting to begin.

As the happy memories floated across her vision so did the terrible ones. The bodies scattered across the hall, the phantom smell of blood, fire and smoke filled her nostril. Her grip on Severus's arm tightened into a vice like grip. She could not lose it now, not in front of so many people. Increasing the protections around her mental wall she managed to suppress the memories.

"Snape, Hermione." rung loudly across the hall. Swallowing nervously she made her way towards the waiting stool. As the hat settled on her head the familiar ancient voice spoke in her head.

"my...my...what a mind. In all my years I have never encountered such a mind as yours." the deep chuckle of the hats echoed in her mind, "no amount of occlumency can keep me out of your mind young one. The enchantments in me surpass that. I am designed to see who you truly are...but as with everything in life you have a choice. So what will it be?"

Hermione was left speechless, this was not how she saw this encounter going but she now had a choice to make. Gryffindor she thought.

"well chosen, good luck in your endeavour and don't worry your secrets are safe with me."

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted.

Getting off the seat hurriedly Hermione made her way to her waiting housemates. Turning to look at her brother she caught sight of his shocked expression.

Severus was dumbfounded, Hermione a gryffindor? How was that even possible yes his sister was brave and always a champion for the downtrodden. But her cunning and ambition almost rivalled his, so if she didn't get into Slytherin what chance did he have. Squaring his shoulders he made his way to the waiting stool.

That hat had barely touched his head before it bellowed out, "Slytherin!"

A wave relief washed through him at the announcement before a sliver of anxiety started to creep in. Him and Hermione were going to be separated, eleven years of spending almost every waking and sometimes sleeping moment together was about to change.

Joining his housemates Severus looked over to the Gryffindor table to Hermione sitting next to Lily. He couldn't help but wonder why she didn't seem upset by the way things had gone.

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As the dinner finished off and prefects begun leading first years to their new dorms Hermione snuck off in search of Severus. Wanting to make sure he was okay, she knew how much it meant to him for both of them to be Slytherins. Hermione didn't get very far before she met Severus who had shared the same idea with her I finding the other.

"I can't believe we aren't in the same house." he said in a sour tone. Looping their arms together as they followed the moving bodies out the great hall Hermione replied. "it doesn't change anything Severus. I will still see you everyday. We can have all our meals together, there is nothing in the school rules that prohibit us sitting at different tables."

Hermione could tell Severus still wasn't pacified with her reassurance, "Sev this is going to be a big deal if you make it into one."

Severus knew Hermione was right, but it still didn't make him feel any better about the situation. "so you aren't going to forget all about me?" he asked voicing his biggest fear. Pulling him away from the swell of bodies Hermione turned to her brother.

" Severus Tobias Snape you are my brother, my best friends and my accomplice no one is ever going to take your place in my life or heart," she said earnestly looking into his onyx orbs. "I'm not going anywhere Sev."

Embracing his sister he felt slightly better about the situation, "well this way we get to network with more people. We can discuss which members of your house have influential families."

At his statement Hermione laughed, "always scheming Severus, my little Slytherin."

Smirking down at Hermione Severus began leading them towards the other students. Hermione was right this wasn't going to change them unless he let it. She had never broken a promise to him, let him down or ever steered him wrong.. They were going to take Hogwarts by storm. The Snape twins have arrived.

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The end of the first school day of the term found most of the Hogwarts students on the grounds, enjoying the late afternoon sun and interacting before dinner. Severus, Lily and Hermione sat on sun baked boulder that overlooked the grounds and black lake.

The three childhood friends had come here immediately after the end of their Divination class. Their school bags lay at the bottom of the boulder, overstuffed and straining with parchment and books.

"I can't believe we are actually here," Lily said breaking the comfortable silence between the three of them. Hermione smiled at her enthusiasm she remembered feeling the same way her first time here. As if she had entered a secret world that maybe had made a mistake in letting her in.

"I'm really glad I met you guys or I would have been panicking about all the stuff we learned today. How is it being in Slytherin Sev?

Shrugging his shoulders Severus thought about it. It was certainly different than what he thought it would be. For one he had quickly found out that he was at the bottom of the pecking order in his house. His and Hermione's success as potion brewers, entrepreneurs and authors was nullified by his blood status. He was a half blood, one of the few in his house and because of that he was looked down on. That wasn't going to deter him though, oh no. He was going to join the Malfoy's, Black's and Lestrange's and be revered.

He finally answered, " it's okay, going to take me a little longer to make friends than I thought."

"why is that?" Hermione asked. Looking at Hermione and Lily Severus decided to choose his words carefully, " most of them grew up together, they are already very close. It's just hard getting in." He wasn't technically lying, most of his housemates came from very old families. Families that held alliances with each other. They had grown up together knowing this and being taught to seek out more alliances for their families. So someone like Severus who came from a muggle background and didn't have any real clout in the wizarding world wasn't seen as a desirable alliance. Severus wasn't put off though, he was going to show them.

"Excited about the duelling lessons on Saturday?" he asked.

"oh god yes!" Lily exclaimed excitedly. "We are going to win, we have been practising for ages and with Hermione on our team no one will come close to touching us."

"I don't know guys, I think I might sit this one out." Hermione said as she watched the giant squid splash a few students near the lake.

"What!" her two companions shouted in unison. "no need to shout!" Hermione admonished. "I just don't want to do it, you guys can find a replacement for the group challenge."

Severus knew that Hermione was refusing to compete because she thought she had an unfair advantage but he didn't see it as that. She was talented and powerful what was the point of hiding it? if he could do what she could he would make sure everybody knew it. At the thought his eyes went to her fake wand that was currently sticking out of her bun.

No one but him knew that Hermione was incapable of using a wand. Every wand she tried casting with blew to smithereens. Her current wand was nothing but a stick she had fashioned to look like a wand. Lily looked at him questioningly but Severus just shrugged, he was going to try and change her mind but now was not the time. Changing the topic to something else the three students spent the afternoon outside enjoying the grounds and weather before dinner.

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Whilst the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were in their first Muggle studies class Hermione and Severus were attending their first year five potions class. Ever since the age of nine Severus had made it their mission to become Potion Masters. He had sadly found out that to qualify of that they would need at least two years of formal education under their belt, OWL and NEWT qualifications and a minimum of a year as apprentices under a Potions Guild recognised Potions Master.

Hogwarts had been very accommodating with helping them achieve this. They had been granted permission to skip ahead to year five. Upon completion of their OWL'S and NEWT's Horace Slughorn had happily offered to take them on as apprentices. The Snape twins would be a fine add to his collection of ever growing list of influential people he was acquainted with.

"I would like us all to give a warm welcome to Hermione and Severus Snape. Two young pioneers in the field of potion brewing who have proven many times their skill and knowledge of potions. As owners and brewers of the successful Snape's Potions who also provide St Mungo's with their potions. Authors of several potion books some of which are currently being used to help teach first and second year potion classes at Hogwarts. Last but not least soon to be the youngest Potion Masters." Horace Slughorn said proudly as though he had somehow contributed to their success.

As their potions professor introduced them Severus sat up proudly, back ramrod straight, shoulders squared with a neutral expression on his face. While Hermione could feel her cheeks and ears turning reader with every word he said. This was not under the radar this was uncomfortable and from the looks on some of her classmates faces they did not look impressed.

"Now there are several cauldrons around the room I would like you to go round and try and identify them." the potion master said to his students, "off you go."

Hermione looked around the room thinking of where to start, Severus had moved to the first cauldron and was conversing with a broad shoulders Slytherin teen. Deciding to start at the last cauldron that had fewer people around it she made her way across the spacious classroom. The potion was turquoise in colour, giving off a small hint of peppermint. Taking the ladell she stirred it slowly and watched as its colour took on a silver sheen to it. Smiling she knew what it was a strengthening potion.

"Befuddlement draught?" a voice said from next to her. Startling Hermione slightly. She looked at the teen who had spoke to her.

"is it a befuddlement draught?" he asked.

"oh no," she said shaking her head. " they look and smell the same but it's a strengthening solution because of the silver sheen when the potion is stirred." Hermione clarified as she absentmindedly stirred the potion.

"thank you I didn't know that. Want to work together figuring out the rest?"

"Uhh yeah sure." Hermione said. She took in the prefect badge on his robe and the Gryffindor stitched on his robe and tie. She hadn't seen him before but then again she wasn't paying attention when the prefects were leading the first years to the common rooms.

"I'm Frank Longbottom by the way," he introduced himself. Hermione's eyes widened at the name. This was going to be Neville's dad. She looked at the teen before her and tried to find similarities between him and his future son but she couldn't find any. Hie eyes were a deeper shade of blue compared to Neville's light blue eyes. His hair dark and skin tanned. Whilst Neville had had brown hair and a pale complexion. The teen version of Frank Longbottom looked nothing like the man she had seen at St Mungo's in the future.

"you okay?" Frank asked worriedly she was staring at him intently, she had not spoken since he had introduced himself and she seemed troubled. Plastering a smile on her face she said, "oh yeah I'm fine. Was just thinking. Should we begin?" Hermione said as she made her way to the next cauldron.

Rabastan Lestrange turned to look at the first year who had been following him about the classroom as they tried to figure out the potions. The young boy was good, needing only seconds to identify the potions. Rabastan wasn't a slouch when it came to potions it was his favourite subject and he excelled in it. He had noticed Severus Snape the first day of term, it wasn't hard not to. As one of the few half bloods he stood out, always on the fringe of groups.

"What wizarding family do you come from?" he asked calmly.

"Prince." Severus said proudly, puffing his chest slightly.

Rabastans brown orbs looked over the young teen before his eyes went to his sister. Taking in their differences he asked, "how is she your sister?"

Severus's fists clenched at the question. A question they received a lot whenever someone found out they were related. He tried not to take offence at it, people were just curious. That's what Hermione always told him they were just curious. But for Severus it always felt like an insult, as if someone like him could not be possibly related to someone as amazing as Hermione.

"She is my twin sister, she took more of our grandmothers Greek features." he replied easily. That's what his mother always said on the few occasions anyone asked about their differences.

"hmmmm," the older boy said his eyes going back to Hermione. "You will join us for dinner today you can bring your sister. The redhead you spend time with what is her blood status?"

"Muggle born," he replied.

Scrunching his face in distance he said, "she is not welcomed to come, and a word of advice. If you want to get anywhere with your fellow Slytherins choose your company carefully."

 **A/N; please leave a review and let me know what you think. I'm going to try and let Severus keep his best traits. That's why he is such a good character, his sacarsm and scathing remarks are brilliant.**


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